Items about books I want to read, #17

And here we go with list number 17 of books I want to read at some point. By the way, if you visit my Listography page (also linked on the right column of this blog), I have started a list of books from this series that I have read. Yes, I have managed to read a few. Not enough to make a big dent on this series of blog post lists, but it is a small start. In the meantime, I continue to jot down books and ideas for future reading, thus assuring that I will always have something to read.

This definitely sounds interesting: erotica based on the Cthulu mythos. The book is Cthulhurotica(link to the publisher, Dagan Books). Found via Bookshelves of Doom here.

The Dirty Librarian has posted her list of books she read in December 2010. From that list, I am particularly interested in Jason Bitner’s LaPorte, Indiana. It’s a collection of local photos the author found in the town. I lived in Indiana for quite a few years, so I am curious.

Guys Lit Wire suggests the series Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. I have not seen this in stores, so it may take me a while to find. But it does sound interesting.

Manga Critic suggests an upcoming title. The title is Lives, and the first volume comes out in February 1st, 2011. Since she says it may be appealing to those who like Battle Royale and Gantz, two series I like, this may be something to seek out.

Written Word highlights the Marvel title Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets (using the Marvel link since I could not find it on WorldCat). Though they fuss a bit in feminist terms (I just want a good story; I don’t need heavy literary crit. on my comics), I just think the book overall looks like fun.

National Public Radio (NPR) has a story on the book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. From the NPR article, “According to the study, one possible reason for a decline in academic rigor and, consequentially, in writing and reasoning skills, is that the principal evaluation of faculty performance comes from student evaluations at the end of the semester. Those evaluations, Arum [one of the book’s authors] says, tend to coincide with the expected grade that the student thinks he or she will receive from the instructor.” This is certainly nothing new, and it is something I have seen when I was an adjunct. Sadly, it is one of those things that is not likely to change since the powers that be are not willing to change it.

The Manga Criticalso discussesToriko, which if you like Oishinbo, of which I read one volume and liked, you may like it too. Here is a bit of her description, “I never thought I’d see a Shonen Jump character extol the value of slow foods, but that’s a big part of Toriko‘s appeal: the concept screams Ted Nugent, but the underlying philosophy says Michael Pollan.”

Book lists and bibliographies of interest:

The Daily Beast offers “The Must Read China List” with five good books about China. Very timely given the recent visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Hu Jintao. I am thinking about using the list as part of a blog post for my library on resources and books about China.

Mashable has a list of “11 Recommendations for the Entrepreneur.” I am not keen on all the selections. For instance, they selected Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, a book that did not exactly impress me when I read it; what they see in it makes me wonder.